


let me take your hand, i’ll make it right (swear to love you all my life)

by doc_pickles



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Fix It Fic, angsty, but a happy ending, i refuse to believe alex would do this to jo, jo centric!, jolex, post 16x16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 12:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24969535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doc_pickles/pseuds/doc_pickles
Summary: alex left.alex left and jo is drowning, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.-in which I have to fix what grey’s screwed up because alex wouldn’t do this to jo
Relationships: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson Karev
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	let me take your hand, i’ll make it right (swear to love you all my life)

**Author's Note:**

> yes hello it’s me, struggling with writers block on my other jolex fic and pumping this out in two hours.  
> I needed to fix what happened with alex and jo and this is the only way i could do it. I was also inspired by the fact that camilla is pregnant in real life soooo enjoy!

Jo had thought that during her long nights and endless shifts as an intern that she had learned the meaning of the word tired. Naively, she had assumed that the 36 hours on call and the 7-hour surgeries were the worst her body could give her. But now that she was an attending, and a pregnant one at that, Jo could honestly say that she had never been so tired. 

The tunnels seemed to be her only source of relief lately, a quiet area of the hospital where she could sleep soundly while on call. Even if her back was aching and she had to spend 30 minutes getting comfortable, the tunnels offered Jo the best chance at sleep she could muster. 

While her loft was only a 15 minutes drive from Grey Sloan and perfect for on call nights, Jo couldn’t bring herself to stay there for long periods of time. Everything reminded her of Alex. The couch they had picked out together, the bookshelf he had built, the dresser still full of his clothes. Jo may not be comfortable sleeping at the hospital, but it gave her peace of mind, something she needed greatly at almost eight months pregnant. 

It was almost 5 AM when she got her first page of the day. Jo had been able to sleep for a full uninterrupted four hours, longer than usual for an overnight shift. She only had an hour left of her shift, something she was thankful for since it would be her day off after that. Her body was aching and she knew she would have to go back to the loft to shower properly and rest in a bed that wasn’t a gurney. Her pager directed her to the East Wing, so off she went. 

The halls were still quiet, Jo’s slow and heavy footsteps echoing as she went on her way. The first few hours of the morning were some of her favorites, the quiet that lay over the hospital comforting in more than one way. During the day, the hustle and bustle of surgeons and patients could become overwhelming. It was a breath of fresh air to be able to hear herself think as she walked the halls. 

As she rounded the corner and came up on the East Wing, Jo saw Meredith standing in front of one of the conference rooms on the floor. The blinds were drawn so she couldn’t see in, but it seemed like Meredith was guarding whatever was inside. 

“Hey,” Jo breathed out, stopping in front of Meredith. Her right hand came up to her stomach, pushing down the foot that tried to kick up at her. “What’re you doing here? I thought you were off today.”

“Yeah well, something came up,” Meredith shrugged, her hands fidgeting in front of her. She seemed nervous, something that Jo rarely saw from her. “I need to show you something. Or tell you something. Either way it’s important.”

Jo nodded at her, but furrowed her brow. She was becoming more and more confused as Meredith spoke. Sure, the older woman could be cryptic and sometimes a little vague, but her expression and tone of voice were starting to freak Jo out. 

“Jo, I need you to keep an open mind, just listen without acting,” Meredith’s voice was calm as she backed up towards the conference room door. “Just… go in here and I promise everything will be explained, okay?”

“What’s going on? Can’t you just tell me,” Jo’s crosses her arms impatiently as she stared at Meredith. “You guys already threw me a surprise baby shower and it’s 5 AM so now I’m getting worried.”

“Just go in, please. Trust me on this one,” Meredith placed her hand on Jo’s shoulder as she opened the door. 

The room was fairly dark with the lights dimmed and the blinds drawn. But the figure across the large table was easily identifiable to Jo. Her stomach clenched uneasily as she stared at the man sitting in front of her. He looked tired and sad, worse for wear but still the man she knew. 

“Alex,” Jo’s voice was low, barely a whisper. She gripped the chair in front of her to keep herself standing and not in a puddle on the ground. “What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Kansas?”

“I was never in Kansas,” the sound of his voice after months of silence makes Jo’s heart swell. A swift kick to her side told her that her baby was listening in too, eager to hear her father's voice. As angry as she is at him, she still loved Alex. “Jo, please you gotta listen to me. I didn’t wanna leave I swear.”

The anger and sadness that Jo had felt for the past seven months finally overflowed. How dare Alex walk in here and try to make everything okay again! Jo had been on her own, going through a rough pregnancy and the aftermath of a divorce by herself. And if that wasn’t enough, she was working in the world’s largest gossip hub while Alex was in the middle of nowhere with his estranged ex wife.

“You did leave though Alex! You left me and you wrote me a freaking letter,” Jo’s voice was loud and emotional, the tears streaming down her face not helping her to stay composed. “You left me and I can’t even go home without thinking of you so I sleep here. I spent the first two months after you left throwing up between patients begging God or anyone to bring you back to me. I’ve cried myself to sleep for seven months and gone to every appointment on my own and done it all by myself. So no, you do not get to walk back in like everything is fine!”

Alex stared at Jo, his eyes taking her in all over again. She was glowing, even in her anger she had a distinct pregnancy glow about her. Meredith had told him about his impending fatherhood on the drive over, just to make sure he didn’t flip out the first moment he saw Jo again. He knew she was angry and upset with him, she had every right to be mad. But right then, Alex wanted nothing more than to hold Jo in his arms and feel their child kicking. He knew he had more explaining he needed to do before Jo would let him do that. 

“Jo,” Alex looked into her watery eyes. “Please give me two minutes to explain. It’s not what you think and I promise I have a good reason.”

“There’s not any excuse I would listen to from you, Alex,” the words barely slipped out of Jo’s mouth before she doubled over, a gasp of pain escaping her as one hand pressed against her stomach. “Oh Jesus, that hurts.”

Alex was up before she could say anything to stop him, rounding the table and standing next to Jo. Her grip on the chair was turning her knuckles white and the tears tracking down her face were from a physical pain now. Alex reached a hand out to help her, but she gave him a look that was dripping with venom and anger.

“Lemme look at you, Jo,” Alex’s voice was calm and quiet as Jo breathed out loudly, ready to fight him on it. “Just let me look at you as a doctor, okay? I just wanna make sure the baby is alright, please?” 

Jo finally nodded, her body gladly falling into the chair Alex had pulled out. She was still leaning over, small whimpers coming out of her as she tried to stop her child’s erratic movements. Alex moved his hands quickly to Jo’s stomach, pressing against it as he looked up at her. He figured now would be a good time as any to explain everything to her. 

“I was at Pac North and I was running downstairs to get supplies for the OR. I walked into the basement and found one of my surgeons being held at gunpoint and operating on a GSW victim,” Alex moved his eyes from Jo’s face back to her stomach. A strong kick met his right hand and Alex realized it was his child was trying to say hello to him. “It was a whole gun smuggling operation, one of my doctors and I happened to stumble upon it. Anyways, they started threatening me and the other guy, the police got involved, and they made me go into hiding until the trial. I had a huge target on my head, Jo, these people were gonna kill me because I saw an illegal surgery. 

“So they put me into WITSEC but someone wouldn’t stop calling or texting, so I had to write you that letter. I had to find something that was so ridiculous that you would stop trying to find me,” Alex moved one hand up to Jo’s face, his thumb brushing off the tears from her cheek. She was crying in earnest now and Alex couldn’t tell if it was from him or the baby. “I’m so sorry I left you Jo, but I couldn’t risk you getting hurt because of what happened. I know you don’t agree with me, but I was trying to protect you. And now I’m really glad I didn’t take you with me, I would’ve died if something happened to you or this baby.”

“So you really didn’t want to leave me,” Jo sniffled, a small laugh slipping out. “I almost drove to freaking Kansas to beat you up and bring you back. God I can’t believe any of this.”

“Baby’s fine by the way, you’re not contracting so I think they were just mad at the volume change,” Alex pressed his hand back to Jo’s stomach, another kick greeting him. “I’m sorry I missed all of this, I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m never going to stop apologizing for what I put you through. You know I would’ve been here if I could.”

Jo began crying again at Alex’s words, her arms reaching out to hug him close to her. The anger and the sadness she had clung to for the past few months vanished as she held onto Alex. None of it mattered anymore because he was here and he wasn’t dead and he would be able to meet their baby and they’d raise her together. 

“Can we go home now? I really wanna sleep in our bed,” Jo sniffled as she looked up at Alex. She wanted nothing more now than to go back to the loft and curl up with him. “And your daughter is craving a cheeseburger at 5 AM.” 

“Should’ve known she was a girl when she kicked me that hard,” Alex leaned down and pressed his forehead to Jo’s. “I’m sorry about all of this, are we okay?”

Jo nodded and pulled Alex down towards her, their lips colliding in a kiss that neither realized they had missed so much. 

“So,” Jo pulled away from Alex and ran her fingers through his hair. It had grown longer since she’d last seen him. “Do you think that the third time's the charm works for marriages too?”

  
  



End file.
